STRANGE FOODS

Why do so many Christians seem more worldly than Christ-like? For one thing, they just aren’t being taught the Scriptural basics, as this Barna study suggests:

·       Matthew 28:18-20 is the most well-known biblical record of what is commonly referred to extra-biblically as “the Great Commission.” But despite the significance of these and other verses that call Christians to “go and make disciples of all nations,” a surprising proportion of churchgoing Christians in the U.S. are generally unaware of these famous words from Jesus.

·       Barna conducted a study of the U.S. Church’s ideas about missions, social justice…When asked if they had previously “heard of the Great Commission,” half of U.S. churchgoers (51%) say they do not know this term. It would be reassuring to assume that the other half who know the term are also actually familiar with the passage known by this name, but that proportion is low (17%). Meanwhile, “the Great Commission” does ring a bell for one in four (25%), though they can’t remember what it is. Six percent of churchgoers are simply not sure whether they have heard this term “the Great Commission” before. (barna.org; 3/27/18)

Christian growth is based upon Christian teachings as so many verses suggest:

·       Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3 ESV)

·       But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

God provided His Church with teachers of the Word to produce maturity:

·       …until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (Ephesians 4:13-14)

Scripture is our growth food. However, today’s church has selected other foods, which fail to please our Lord or build His Church:

·       Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. (Hebrews 13:9)

There is no shortage of “strange teachings” ranging from mysticism to psychotherapy to meditation. However, it seems that these are the unscriptural foods that our churches are consuming, “foods which have not benefitted those devoted to them.”

How long, O Lord?